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Rachel Berry
Rachel Berry, (born December 18, 1994) is captain of New Directions, her ex-boyfriend Finn Hudson being the co-captain. Rachel is sixteen years old, Jewish and she is known to be a vegan. She was raised by two gay fathers, and her biological mother is Shelby Corcoran. Starting the show in her Sophomore year, Rachel attends William McKinley High School. Rachel appears to be unpopular with most of the other students because she comes across as being self-involved and very controlling. She is typically very competitive and often shows 'diva' behavior by always wanting to be in the spotlight and be the center of attention due to her dream of becoming a famous Broadway actress. However, on rare occasions Rachel has shown that she is slowly becoming more considerate and supportive towards the other members of New Directions. She starts a relationship with Jesse St. James but later she finds out that it was just a set up so that her real mother could meet her (even though Jesse did grow strong feelings for her). She is also considered jealous of others with a great voice, shown in Season 2 premiere Audition, when Rachel hears new student Sunshine Corazon sing Lady Gaga's Telephone in the womens restroom and sings trying to beat her. The character is portrayed by Lea Michele. Biography Early Life Born on December 18, 1994, in Lima, Ohio, USA, Rachel Barbara Berry was a shining star from the start. Her very birth was out of love, as Hiram Berry and Leroy Berry, inter-racial same-sex couple, wanted nothing more than to make their family complete by having a child. Her fathers proceeded to screen potential surrogates based on IQ and beauty, and eventually decided on Shelby Corcoran. Shelby agreed to the idea, as the money she recieved allowed for her to pay for her trip to New York in a failed attempt to be a star on Broadway. Due to them mixing Hiram and Leroy's sperm together prior to conception, to this day Rachel does not know who her biological father is which she thinks is awesome. Her fathers spoiled her in the arts and at the tender age of 3 years she won her first dance competition. As a result, she has a high sense of self-worth and a love of being the center of atttention. She uploads a new Myspace video everyday to keep her talent alive and growing. She is an active member of the Glee Club, Speech Club, Mock United Nations Club, Renaissance Club, Muslim Students Club, and Black Students Union (her father Hiram is Jewish, and her father Leroy is African-American and a Muslim). Rachel was raised in the Jewish faith, though her parents have always pushed her to be as open-minded to other beliefs and people as possible. As a result, she wants her own children to have freedom to believe what they want, so long as they are raised Jewish. She is a vegan.She's a talented overachiever. Season One Rachel is introduced in "Pilot", in which she got the school's previous Glee teacher, Sandy Ryerson fired for inappropriately touching a male student although it was really because she wanted the solo Sandy had given to the student. Right off the bat, Rachel's diva personality shines through as she details how she had won her first dance contest while still a baby. When Will Schuester holds auditions, Rachel performs the piece "On My Own" from Les Miserables, and as soon as she finishes singing, she promptly asks when rehearsals begin. Once rehearsals start, she immediately begins to grow weary on the minds and tempers of the others, becoming easily angered for not getting her way and for not having better music selections. However, she seems to lighten up when Finn Hudson joins. With his skilled singing abilities and good looks, Rachel finds herself immensely attracted to him. The big problem about her feelings towards him is that he is dating her arch-enemy Quinn Fabray. When Finn tries to leave the group, she works hard to convince him to stay, knowing that he really does like Glee but is afraid of being bullied by the rest of the school. ".]] In "Showmance", Rachel begins to take a more active approach at trying to win over Finn. Rachel continues to try and do what she can to get Finn's attention, including inducing vomiting so as to become thinner, and joining the Celibacy Club. Neither works out for her. Later, when the Glee kids, ignoring Mr. Schuester's orders reject his song selection of "Le Freak" and instead perform the more extremely sexually driven song, "Push It", Rachel gets the group in trouble not only with the principal and Will, but it also results in Quinn joining the group along with Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce. While helping him practice his singing, Rachel puts together a very over-the-top, but nonetheless romantic picnic for them to enjoy. This leads to them sharing their first kiss, which unfortunately gets Finn overexcited, and he prematurely ejaculates. Embarrassed and feeling guilty, Finn rushes off, leaving Rachel confused and hurt. Rachel's overbearing nature continues to cause a rift between her and Will in "Acafellas", when she and the rest of the group criticize his choreography. This leads to him losing confidence and joining his own musical group, the Acafellas. Meanwhile Quinn convinces Rachel to get award winning choreographer, Dakota Stanley. Unfortunately his costs are $8,000 dollars per song. The glee kids get the money, but are soon horrified by how horrible Stanley is, who insults and rejects everyone in the group (save for the Cheerios) and attempts to kick them out of Glee for not looking like what he considers to be beautiful. This provokes the other kids to want to leave, but Rachel stops them and instead fires Stanley, while adding in that she's taller than he is. In "Preggers", Rachel's diva-esque nature flares up when Will gives Tina Cohen-Chang the solo in "Tonight", from "West Side Story". Will tells Rachel the reason he gave the solo to Tina is that he wants to strengthen the confidence of the rest of Glee in anticipation of Regionals. She's upset that he is hurting her to make others feel good. Sue Sylvester finds out about Rachel's anger, and manipulating Principal Figgins, gets Sandy Ryerson rehired as the head of the arts department, which allows him to run the school musical, Cabaret. Sue has Sandy give Rachel the lead. With Will still refusing to give her the lead, Rachel quits Glee to join the musical. Unfortunately, the musical proves to be a less than enjoyable account for Rachel as seen in "The Rhodes Not Taken". Under Sandy's control, the musical proves to be painful, as Sandy spends all his time insulting Rachel's talent, claiming he could do better. Meanwhile, Will has gotten a ringer to replace Rachel, April Rhodes, who was an old high school classmate and crush of Will's youth. Although talented, April is very irresponsible, teaching the Glee kids to drink and act up. April voices a sexual interest in the much younger Finn to Rachel, which infuriates her. Finn meanwhile attempts to get Rachel back in Glee, partly because of her talent and also because he misses her. This leads to their second kiss, which hurts Rachel when she realizes that Finn was manipulating her because he needs her help to win a scholarship in music, so that he has a future for himself and Quinn who is pregnant with their supposed baby. In the end however, Rachel unable to stand Sandy's directing and truly missing the group, she returns to Glee Club. In "Vitamin D", Rachel and Finn come to odds, when Rachel discovers that during the mash-up competition between the boys and girls, the boys too performance enhancing pseudoephedrine (given to them by Terri Schuester) to energize them. In a move that disturbs Rachel herself, the girls take the same drug, giving a wildly energetic performance of "Halo/Walking on Sunshine". Afterwards, both of Finn and Rachel agree they were wrong to take the drugs, and come clean to Will. This however causes a massive backlash, getting Terri fired as the school nurse, and getting Glee a co-director: Sue Sylvester. Sue's reign as co-director causes immediate trouble in "Throwdown", as Sue splits the kids up, taking all the minority students. However, while the minority students enjoy singing songs that speak to their backgrounds, they are not happy at being split up from the others. Meanwhile, Rachel, upon discovering Quinn's pregnancy, does what she can to keep the truth of the pregnancy hidden from school reporter Jacob Ben Israel, who has a massive crush on Rachel. She offers her underwear in exchange for his silence. Although Finn is touched, Quinn demands that Rachel stay away from Finn. Undeterred, Rachel warns Quinn that Sue will not side with her when the news of her pregnancy finally does come out, and that Rachel and the rest of the Glee Club, will be there for her. Rachel is proven right when Sue reveals that she is aware of the pregnancy. And just as Rachel promised, the Glee Club sings "Keep Holding On", promising to be there for Quinn no matter what. In "Mash-Up", Rachel begins a short-lived relationship with former-foe Noah Puckerman who, after being convinced by his mom into finding a nice Jewish girl, begins to pursue her romantically. Rachel is touched by his sudden kind nature and a night of making out. Unfortunately, Puck begins to feel that dating Rachel is killing his reputation in school, but that he now understands how bad it can be for people like Rachel. However, Puck, unable to live his life like that, decides to return to the football team rather than be a social outsider. However, when Ken Tanaka makes the football players choose between the team and Glee, Puck returns to Glee. Rachel is again touched but quickly realizes that Puck is in love with Quinn and that she is still in love with Finn. They end their relationship, and when Rachel attempts an offer at friendship, Puck rejects her. In "Wheels", Rachel's rivalry with Kurt Hummel begins to show itself, when Will gives her the solo in "Defying Gravity". Kurt, who loves the song, challenges the decision, and Will agrees to let them compete in a Diva-Off. The winner will sing the solo. Rachel is angered and scared at the idea, because she knows that the other kids will select Kurt because they like him more. Kurt however asks the kids to be fair in their selection, despite him being more popular and a better dresser. In the end, Kurt intentionally throws the competition, due to some personal issues involving his father. ".]] In "Ballad", Rachel's romantic feeling shift from Finn to Will, upon singing "Endless Love" with him. She begins to behave in an obsessively romantic fashion towards Will, buying him gifts and showing up at his house, where Terri manipulates her into doing housework. Will makes many attempts to get her to stop, but not until Suzy Pepper (another girl who once had a crush on Will) talked to her, did Rachel realize how inappropriately she was behaving. In "Hairography", Kurt still continues his rivalry with Rachel when he manipulates Rachel with false advice on how to win over Finn. Openly insulting Rachel, he convinces her to take on a sultrier look (comparing her to the character Sandy in Grease). While the look does get Finn's attention, Finn admits that he preferred Rachel as she normally is. Rachel then confronts Kurt, who admits that they are both in love with Finn, and that as long as Quinn is in the picture, neither of them will ever have him. Rachel informs Kurt that her chances of being with Finn are better, because "I'm a girl" and Finn isn't gay. In the end, although not quite friends, both have bonded over their shared heartbreak. When the Glee Club gets it page taken away from the yearbook in "Mattress", Rachel is the only one upset, wanting to have her glory and believing that other Glee kids feel the same way, when in reality, it is quite the opposite. Will gets them one quarter of a page, in which only the two captains of the club can be shown. The group unanimously elects Rachel alone. Will however, asks Rachel to convince someone else to be co-captain. When everyone else says no, she convinces Finn to take the picture with her. However, after being bullied by the football team, Finn doesn't show up, breaking Rachel's heart. However, Rachel manages to get the year book photographer to hire the Glee Club for a mattress commercial in which they sing "Jump". Unfortunately, the commercial takes away the kids' amateur status, making them unable to compete in Sectionals. It’s only when Will steps down as director that they are allowed to perform again. In "Sectionals", Emma Pillsbury is selected by Will to take over as director and take the kids to the competition. Unfortunately with Will gone, they don't have their set list. Rachel offers one of her ballads, but Mercedes Jones, who is furious at Rachel always getting the spotlight, demands her own chance, which Emma supports. Mercedes sings a powerful ballad, which results in a standing ovation from the entire Glee, Rachel included. Rachel tells Mercedes that her performance was wonderful and concedes to let her sing the ballad, with the two sharing a hug. Meanwhile, Rachel begins to grow suspicious about Quinn's pregnancy, slowly realizing that Puck might be the father, not Finn. When she shares this information with the Glee Club, they disregard it awkwardly, because they all know that it’s true, but do not want to get involved in Finn, Quinn, and Puck's personal drama. Rachel, however, brings this theory up to Finn, who discovers that it's true. Furious, he breaks up with Quinn, breaks off his friendship with Puck and quits Glee. Rachel, who is guilty about her own selfish actions, talks to Quinn, expecting to get beaten up. Quinn admits that she's not angry at Rachel because Rachel did what she couldn't: tell the truth. At the competition, the Glee Club is horrified to discover that their rival schools stole their set-list and are performing all of their songs. The group agrees to do a new set-list, but only have an hour in to which prepare. Rachel, taking control, asks Mercedes to do a different ballad, but Mercedes admits that she has nothing else prepared and asks that Rachel step forward. With Finn's timely return, the group goes out to perform. R achel sings "Don't Rain on My Parade", and with the rest of the group she performs "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Somebody to Love" (this last song is not seen performed on screen, but implied in the green room). In the end, the group wins Sectionals and Will comes back as their director, preparing for the next competition. In "Hell-O", Rachel and Finn are now "kind of" dating, until Finn decides to connect with his inner rock star; he breaks up with her, leaving Rachel shocked and angry. This leads her to sing "Gives You Hell", directed at Finn. Mr. Schuester tells her this is not a "Hello" song for the assignment, so she goes to the music store in search of a new song. There, she meets Jesse St. James, the male lead of Vocal Adrenaline, and the pair have immediate chemistry when they perform "Hello" by Lionel Richie. Rachel begins dating Jesse, which upsets New Directions and they want her out of the club if she doesn't break up with him because they think he is doing this to spy on their club for Regionals. She goes to Carmel High School, and asks Jesse if he is doing this for competition, and he denies it. Rachel asks Jesse to keep their relationship a secret, and he does so, but only to be looked on by Vocal Adrenaline's coach, Shelby Corcoran. When Finn tries to get back together with Rachel, she turns him down, and lies to him about her relationship with Jesse. When the Glee club performs "Hello Goodbye", she runs out on the performance, leaving Finn speechless. ".]]In "The Power of Madonna" Rachel and Jesse's relationship grows. Rachel is pressured to "do it" with Jesse but she tells him she's not ready. The glee girls realize they are not being treated fairly so lead by Rachel, they sing "Express Yourself" to show their independence. Although Finn thinks that Rachel is not dating Jesse anymore, Santana tells him that she still is. He asks Rachel and she admits it but says that they can still be friends. They then sing "Borderline/Open Your Heart". She tells Jesse that she is ready to have sex with him which leads to "Like a Virgin". Right before they have sex, Rachel says that she's not ready and that it would feel like she's betraying her team. When Finn asks her about it the next day, she lie's and says that she did have sex to make Finn jealous. Finn also fibs and says that on his date with Santana he didn't have sex, although he really did. In "Bad Reputation", Rachel asks Puck to assist her in their glee assignment, creating a video to "Run Joey Run." Unbeknownst to each of them until the video is completed, she also has Finn and Jesse triple-cast in the role of her boyfriend, Joey. They are offended to see they were all playing the same role and were edited in at different points during the video. Puck and Finn become angry, and Jesse breaks up with Rachel as a result. The episode closes with Rachel singing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" as the club members leave the classroom. ".]] In "Laryngitis", Rachel realises that some glee club members are faking their singing. She tells Will, complaining that she is doing most of the work, exhausting herself and getting ill in the process. She reveals the non-participants as Finn, Quinn, Puck, Brittany and Santana. Will gathers the students and gives them a new task for the week - each Glee club member will have to do solos, and each must choose a song that best represents their feelings. Rachel then confronts the non-participating glee members and insults them, leading her to sing "The Climb". But when she starts losing her voice, she goes to the doctor. Later, after an examination by Rachel's doctor reveals that she suffers from tonsillitis and may need to have her tonsils removed, she is afraid to have the surgery, fearing it will affect her voice and believing that her singing prowess is her only asset. Finn, who accompanies Rachel to her doctors appointment, tries to convince her that he loves everything about her and that there's more to her than her voice. He tells her that if she lost her ability to sing then Jesse would no longer find her attractive. Rachel tells Finn that she still cares about Jesse and that he needs to move on. To put her fear into perspective, Finn introduces her to his friend Sean, who was paralyzed from the upper chest down during a football game. At first, Rachel is nervous and overwhelmed by the meeting - but Finn forces her to stay as Sean tells her about his grueling experiences with his disability and how he realized that a person is not just one single thing. She then begins to understand why Finn brought her and thanks Sean as she leaves. Rachel eventually recovers her voice after taking the antibiotics her doctor prescribed. She goes back to Sean's house to thank him again, and offers to give him singing lessons. They start singing "One" and the image and music switch between her duet with Sean and the rest of the Glee club's own rendition of the song in a stage rehearsal. The episode ends with a tearful Rachel holding Sean's hand while they sing the last lines. In "Dream On", Rachel gets back together with Jesse and confides in him of her lifelong dream to discover the identity of her biological mother. While they are searching through boxes of records from her basement, Jesse takes a tape from his jacket and pretends that it came from the box. The tape is labeled "From mother to daughter". Rachel refuses to listen to the tape, stating that she is not ready. Jesse later meets with Shelby in her car, where she reveals that she is Rachel's mother, but a contractual agreement prevents her from meeting with Rachel. She implores Jesse to convince Rachel to listen to the tape, stating that not being able to meet Rachel is her one regret. Shelby sings "I Dreamed a Dream" on the tape, leading to a duet with Rachel singing in a fantasy sequence. In "Theatricality", Rachel finds out Shelby is her mother when she recognizes her voice after Shelby sings "Funny Girl". Shelby later meets with Rachel and says they should "be grateful for one another from afar", saying she is her mother but not her mom. Rachel asks Shelby to sing with her, and they sing "Poker Face" together, accompanied by Brad on the piano. In "Funk", Rachel finds out Jesse was playing her the whole time. She and Jesse break up in the beginning of the episode when he announces he is returning to Vocal Adrenaline because he feels that New Directions didn’t respect him or his ideas. Rachel becomes extremely depressed and goes into an even deeper “funk” than the rest of the club. Near the end of the episode, Jesse calls her asking to meet in the parking lot. As she runs toward him, the rest of the Vocal Adrenaline members emerge from behind their Range Rovers and throw eggs at her. Jesse tells her he loved her and breaks the last egg on her forehead. The rest of New Directions are furious at them when they find out and respond by singing "Give Up the Funk" in front of Vocal Adrenaline putting them in a “funk.” In "Journey", Rachel, along with most of the club, lose all hope of even placing in Regionals and are thrown into despair after learning that Sue Sylvester is part of the panel of judges. Finn later confronts her and encourages her to be more motivating as co-captain of the team and she kisses him. Right before their opening song, Finn confesses his love for Rachel and this adds to the emotional depth of their duet, "Faithfully". After their Journey medley, Rachel and New Directions are convinced that they will place or even win Regionals. Sadly, however, they end up coming in third despite the fact that Sue voted them for first place. Because of this, it is decided that New Directions will be disbanded as it is part of Mr. Schuester and Mr. Figgins's deal to place at Regionals in order to keep the program. Rachel, along with the club, perform the number, "To Sir, With Love", to show their appreciation for Mr. Schuester's devotion and to show that no matter what the judges said, they still won because they had him. Sue Sylvester sees their performance and later convinces Figgins to give the program another year. When Will gives them the good news, Rachel is ecstatic and wants to start rehearsing for next year's sectionals. Will then performs "Over the Rainbow" and she is seen being affectionate with Finn, hinting that they are back together. Season Two ' in 'Audition.']] In "Audition," with Jacob Ben Israel asking Rachel and Finn about Rachel being a "controllist." Rachel corrects him (controllist isn't a word) and defends herself saying,"performing is my life and yes do I have opinions about it? Does my need to constantly express my opinions annoy my fellow glee clubbers..." While Finn accidently blurts out "Yes" out loud, which makes Rachel slightly annoyed. Later everybody gathers together and performs "Empire State of Mind, where she watches Sunshine Corazon, the Filipino exchange student, seem interested in the glee club's performance. From there Rachel meets Sunshine again in the bathroom trying to convince her to join glee club, and when Sunshine starts to sing along to "Telephone," Rachel sees her competition and it turns into a bit of a showdown in Rachel's opinion but is suddenly ended when Sue yells "Shut up!" Then we next see the diva talking to Mercedes and Kurt trying to convince them to be slushied brutally by Azimio and Karofsky, (after being paid by Rachel) in front of Sunshine so she doesn't join glee club. So after they say no to her idea, she says she'll be nice but instead tells Sunshine that the auditions were in a former crack house where they used Sunshine's sheet music as toilet paper. Mike and Tina find out and tell Mr. Schue. Her excuse is " I love you guys..." Rachel gets in trouble and apologizes to Sunshine and offers to buy her a new set of sheet music if she comes to the auditorium for a real audition. Where Sunshine sings, "Listen." While listening, Rachel gets squirmish hearing how amazing Sunshine's voice is. When Sunshine is snatched up by Vocal Adrenaline, the glee club blames Rachel for Sunshine not choosing to stay. Finn tells Rachel that it would be best if she apologized to the glee club, and she agrees that she will. Rachel reveals to Finn that she was rude to Sunshine because she loves her spotlight and didn't want to lose it. Finn says he is not mad at Rachel and they both agree to never break up. Before apologizing, Rachel goes to the auditorium for alone time and sings "What I Did For Love." In "Britney/Brittany", we find out that Rachel has bad tooth hygene and Carl cleans them; during the anestesia, Rachel has fantasies about being like Britney Spears and sings Baby,One More Time, and the next day she appears at school wearing an extremly inappropriate outfit, drawing all guys' attention to her. Santana congratulates her on finally dressing better. She soon gives up on her new image, realizing that's not her, and asks Finn to choose: her or the football team. Finn says that when he scores a touchdown, he will look to the crowd and point to her, which Rachel thinks is romantic. Still insecure, Rachel sends Quinn to ask him out, and is pleased when he turns her down. At the end, she apologizes to Finn for giving him an ultimatum, and sings "The Only Exception". In "Grilled Cheesus", Rachel tells Finn about how she is Jewish, and how his belief in Jesus is affecting their relationship. She asks Finn that when they have children, that they raise them in the Jewish faith. Finn agrees and she lets Finn touch the sides of her breasts. She later sings "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" to Kurt's father. In "Duets", Finn and Rachel partner up to sing "Don't Go Breaking My Heart "and she admits that she doesn't feel like a very nice person and that her relationship with Finn has inspired her to become a better person. She then decides that she and Finn should throw the competition and allow Sam to win in hopes that this will give him the confidence boost, as well as the increased confidence from his team members, needed to strengthen himself and the team. This act, as pointed out by Finn, is not entirely selfless, as Rachel hopes the end result will be first place at Nationals. Finn and Rachel then spend the majority of the episode brainstorming on how to lose without being too obvious that they are trying to throw the competition and convincing Sam to remain partners with Quinn. Their duet, "With You I'm Born Again" is met with overwhelmingly negative criticism with Quinn even commenting, "I seriously wanted to punch both of you" thus costing them the competition exactly as they had hoped. Rachel then decides to talk with Kurt and tells him that they are more alike than he would believe. She then tells him she believes they will win Nationals because they have him on their team. She then proposes a duet of , "Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy", which they sing as the episode's closing number. In "Rocky Horror Glee Show", Mr. Schue reveals that the group will do Rocky Horror Picture Show as the Spring Musical. Rachel is concerned about doing a show that has such a racy and adult premise, which Will assures her he'll edit. Rachel then volunteer's Finn and herself to play the main roles of "Brad" and "Janet". While rehearsing, Finn reveals that he's self conscious about his body, but Rachel promises him that he should not be, because she loves him how he is, just like he loves her how she is. They later perform Dammit Janet, Time Warp and Sweet Transvestite. In "Never Been Kissed", she is seen in the Glee Club rehearsals, she's also seen in a flashback with Finn. She has a solo on Start Me Up/Livin' On a Prayer. In "The Substitute", Rachel is seen as a younger version of herself who requests that they honor Bernadette Peters with their Sectionals setlist. Later she is seen trying to take over Glee Club, and asks everyone what songs they would like her to perform at sectionals, when Santana tries to attack her however she is restrained. When Miss Holliday comes to take over in Mr Schue's absense, Rachel is opposed to the idea of freetime and fun and wants to focus on Sectionals. She goes to Mr Schuesters and tells him what Miss Holliday has been doing and how she is friends with Sue. Later Miss Holliday comments that Rachel is a drag to her and asks her what song she would like to perform inwhich she asks her to perform Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag with her. They perform it and become friends. She later performs Singing In the Rain/Umbrella with Mr Schue and Miss Holliday. In "Furt", Rachel convinces the glee club to convince their boyfriends to tell Karofsky to back off Kurt. Only when she tells Finn, he says no because he might loose his quaterback job. Then at the wedding Rachel walks into where Finn is getting dressed and sees Santana in the room talking to Finn that Finn should break up with Rachel. But during the wedding Rachel gets Finn's mothers flowers and Finn looks back at her. At the wedding Finn mentions Finn and Rachel's nickname: Finchel. Then when Finn mentions Rachel and Puck's nickname : Puckleberry she gets a disgusted look on her face. She is seen dancing with Finn at the end happily. In "Special Education", Rachel is outraged to find that Mr. Schuster has given the Sectionals ballad to Sam and Quinn and that Finn lied to her about having sex with Santana during the previous year. After helping Kurt prepare the ballad "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" from the musical Evita for his solo audition with the Warblers, both the Warblers and New Directions meet at Sectionals, where Rachel further supports Kurt. By the end of the episode, Rachel forgives Finn, but he breaks up with her for making out with Puck while they weren't speaking. Distraught over their split, Rachel turns down the solo in "Dog Days Are Over" and, instead, offers it to Mercedes and Tina. In "A Very Glee Christmas", Rachel tries to get back together with Finn. At the beginning of the episode when everyone else is talking around the tree she asks Finn to meet her at the auditorium at 4:00 the next day he reluctantly agrees. The next day at the auditorium Rachel has made a winter wonderland from artificial trees, snow made by the AP Club and got the band together. When Finn gets there and realizes what she's trying to do he turns her down and leaves. Later when Sue Sylvester dressed as the "Grinch" destroys the glee clubs christmas tree and takes all the presents for the needy, Rachel approaches Finn and says that as the co-captains they should do something about it. So he takes her to go tree shopping for a new tree. When the song "Last Christmas " comes on Rachel says it's her favorite Christmas song and as they each go down different isles of trees Rachel starts singing and Finn joins in, at the end of the song they kiss. However Finn pulls back, and says he still wasn't ready to forgive her and says that it's because he's had two girlfriends who have both cheated on him, resulting in him officially breaking up with her. After Sue is touched by the Glee groups song in the teacher's lounge, she gets the Glee kids to help Will celebrate Christmas, who otherwise would have spent it alone. While decorating the tree, Rachel offers Finn a tentative smile before looking away. Finn, then gives a small reluctant smile of his own as he watches her, hinting at forgiveness. Personality If Mercedes is considered a diva, Rachel could only be called the grandmother of them all. Overbearing, hyperactive, self-involved, egotistical and shrewd, Rachel can often come off as one of the more annoying girls in the Glee Club, something all the other members have said at one point or another. Since supposedly winning her first competition while still in diapers, Rachel's one true desire is to become a famous singing star and she has spent every moment of her life, obsessively going for that goal. Rachel is so energized by her ambition that she often speaks at a rapid pace, often without any tact to what she says. Rachel can also be manipulative in her actions, such as getting the previous glee teacher fired when she didn't get a solo and using the fact that she has two gay dads and therefore a connection to the civil rights union to force a business to get Finn hired for a waiting job. Ironically, she has difficulty seeing when other people are manipulating her, such as when Kurt gave her bad advice to gain Finn's attention. She is easily angered for not getting her way, and at such occasions, she will leave the room with a dramatic exit. (Though, as Artie once pointed out, they get less dramatic every time she does it) Yet despite her less than appealing tendencies, Rachel is not a bad person. Deep down, like so many other teens, she only wishes to be loved and to have friends. When others are hurting or feeling rejected, Rachel often is willing to come to their side and offer them help, even if the manner in which she does it is less than smooth, such as offerering Quinn her support and friendship when she found out she was pregnant and was kicked off the Cheerleading team, despite all the years of emotional torment. Rachel is a vegan, a fact revealed to fans in Funk before Vocal Adrenaline eggs her. (Although a minor error, she was seen eating pizza with pepperoni in the episode the Rhodes Not Taken. It was mentioned by Finn as he said: I think they import the pepperoni from, Michigan or something.) This was also confirmed in Duets when Finn tells Rachel that the vegan meatballs at Breadstix are "okay". Rachel's romantic feelings towards certain people, like her core personality, can be somewhat scary. Upon meeting and singing with Finn for the first time, she became obviously enamored, causing Finn to become somewhat fearful for his safety as she sang to him. However, despite her overbearing nature, Finn found himself attracted to her "Swim Fan" personality. Rachel also became attracted to Will at one point, after they sang a duet ballad together, and like Finn, Will became afraid, but for very different reasons. The only person who has not shown fear in regards to Rachel's romantic advances was Jesse St. James, who not only welcomed the advances, but apparently returned them as well as instigated them intentionally, due to their similar personalities. Jesse even admited to being in-love with Rachel, which Rachel admited in return, after only knowing him for a few days. It was later revealed that Jesse was trying to reconnect Rachel and her mother, making it unclear how much of their relationship was real and how much was part of the plot (though it is hinted at that Jesse genuinley cared for Rachel). In Theatricality it is discovered that her mother is Shelby Corcoran, the coach of their rival show choir, Vocal Adrenaline. Her mother, however, upon realizing how much she missed in Rachel's life, and how painful it was trying to continue a relationship that never existed, decided it was best that they not continue seeing each other. Despite Rachel's diva personality, the members of New Directions care about her. When Jesse cracked an egg on her head, the club members were furious and even threatened to rip his face off. Later she has been trying to improve her personality. On the episode Duets she let Sam win, but as Finn pointed out it was, in a way, for personal reasons. This behavior continues as she offers Kurt some friendly support and invites him to do a duet with her. In Special Education, she helps him try for a solo at Dalton Academy, and offers him immense support during the Dalton Academy Warblers' performance, urging him to smile and giving him a standing ovation. Rachel is very protective of her Jewish roots and her two fathers. She often speaks about them and her upbringing, her unconventional life has given her a solid grounding but she was still pleased to find her mom in Season 1. Relationships Noah "Puck" Puckerman Main article: Rachel-Puck Relationship (Puckleberry) They started dating because of Puck's mother's desire for him to date a girl who is Jewish and a mysterious dream, but Rachel ended the relationship because she still has feelings for Finn. She admitted that the reason she agreed to date him was because she thought it would make Finn jealous. Rachel then offered Puck to be friends again but Puck turned her down, claiming they had never been friends in the first place. In Bad Reputation, it is revealed that Rachel is ironically turned on by Puck's bad boy image. In Special Education they have another make out but Puck turns her down cause he doesn't want to hurt Finn again. It is also revealed that perhaps Puck does like her as a friend when he objects to Santana saying that everyone pretends to like Rachel. During episode "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle", Puck and Rachel perform a duet during which they look at each other lovingly and after which Puck implies still having feelings for Rachel, but that he won't act on them until Finn gets over her. The fan base has deemed this pairing "Puckleberry." Finn Hudson Main article: Rachel-Finn Relationship (Finchel) Finn and Rachel have an extremely complicated relationship. They are both talented singers and members of the Glee club. Once during practice they kissed for the first time. Their relationship however is complicated by the fact that Finn thinks that his girlfriend, Quinn, is pregnant with his child. They kissed a second time when Finn wanted to convince Rachel to rejoin the Glee Club. Rachel started dating Puck because she thought that it would make Finn jealous. Finn told Quinn that sometimes he wished she could be more like Rachel, looking out for others. But Finn seems loyal to Quinn now, leaving Rachel feeling hopeless about her wish to be his girlfriend. When Rachel discovers that Puck is the father of Quinn's baby, she shares this knowledge with Finn, who upon realizing it’s true, furiously breaks up with Quinn and temporarily quits Glee. He returns later and gains a small bit of comfort from Rachel, however neither makes an attempt at pursuing a relationship until later. Soon after, Rachel claims them to be officially dating. Finn however is uneasy about the idea, as he is not quite over Quinn, and proceeds to end things with Rachel. After a disastrous 'date' with Santana Lopez and Brittany, he realizes that Rachel was the perfect girl for him, who understood him. However, Rachel had moved on and started dating Jesse St. James of Vocal Adrenaline, much to Finn's heartbreak. After Jesse had broken up with her, Rachel realized that Finn was really the one for her. Before their performance at Regionals in Journey Rachel told Finn to "break a leg" to which he responded with "I love you". In Season 2, Finn and Rachel are dating again and they say in the second season that they have been dating all summer.They are stronger than ever now and they love each other. They are known as Finchel. But their relationship is now at risk after Santana threatened Finn to tell Rachel about how she took his virginity last year. In Special Education, the secret of Finn's sex with Santana comes out and Rachel becomes emotionally distraught. They get over it at the end but Rachel reveals that she made out with Puck to cancel out Finn and Santana. Finn responds by breaking up with her. It is assumed by the fan base that Finn and Rachel will end up together, however, and it is also hinted at by the writers and cast. Jesse St. James Main Article: Rachel-Jesse Relationship Jesse St. James is the popular lead male singer of Vocal Adrenaline. After Finn breaks up with Rachel (though they never officially had started dating), she ends up meeting Jesse while at the music store. After dismissing her performance at Sectionals, he invites her out on a date, and the two quickly become a serious item, claiming to be 'in love'. The rest of New Directions, however, are uneasy about the relationship, believing Jesse to be a spy for their rival school. When Rachel tries to find this out for herself, Jesse claims it not be true. However, when Rachel refuses to have sex with Jesse, he drops out of his old school and moves to his uncle's so he can transfer to McKinley and be with Rachel, and join the Glee Club. It is interesting to note that the leader of Vocal Adrenaline gave Jesse a look which presumably meant to stay with Rachel to not blow his cover. Later, Rachel looks through boxes of her childhood and infant memorabilia in search of the identity of her birth mother. What she doesn't notice is the fact that the tape that she uses to identify her mother, Shelby Corcoran, does not come from the many boxes but from Jesse's shirt pocket. This is later addressed when Jesse climbs into Shelby's car, proving that he wasn't there as a spy for Vocal Adrenaline, but to lead Rachel into finding her birth mother. Jesse confesses to Ms. Corcoran that, while originally he developed a relationship with Rachel to hone his acting abilities, he admitted starting to like her. This was contradicted in Funk when he and the other Vocal Adrenaline members egged her, though he did tell her that he loved her, though it is unkown if he was telling the truth or not. When asked if Jesse really did love Rachel, Jonathan Groff who portrays Jesse, said he thinks he did love her, but this has not been confirmed in the show. Songs Solos Season One *On My Own (Pilot) *Take a Bow (Showmance) *Taking Chances (Preggers) *Cabaret (The Rhodes Not Taken) *What a Girl Wants (Mash-Up) *Crush (Ballad) *When You're Smiling (Mattress) *Don't Rain On My Parade (Sectionals) *Gives You Hell (Hell-O) *The Climb (Laryngitis) Season Two *What I Did for Love (Audition) *Baby One More Time (Britney/Brittany) *The Only Exception (Britney/Brittany) *Papa, Can You Hear Me? (Grilled Cheesus) *Merry Christmas Darling (A Very Glee Christmas) *O Holy Night (Not Used In A Very Glee Christmas) *Firework (Silly Love Songs) Solos (In A Duet) Season One *Maybe This Time (April) (The Rhodes Not Taken) *No Air (Finn) (Throwdown) *Defying Gravity (Kurt) (Wheels) *Endless Love (Will) (Ballad) Smile (Lily Allen) (Finn) (Mattress) *Hello (Jesse) (Hell-O) *Hello 12, Hello 13, Hello Love (Jesse) (Cut From Hell-O) *Borderline/Open Your Heart (Finn) (The Power Of Madonna) *Dreamed a Dream (Shelby) (Dream On) *Poker Face (Shelby) (Theatricality) *Faithfully (Finn) (Journey) Season 2 *Telephone (Sunshine) (Audition) *Don't Go Breaking My Heart (Finn) (Duets) *With You I'm Born Again (Finn) (Duets) *Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy (Kurt) (Duets) *Dammit Janet (Finn) (The Rocky Horror Glee Show) *Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag (Holly Holiday) (The Substitute) *Don't Cry for Me Argentina (Kurt) (Special Education) *Last Christmas (Finn) (A Very Glee Christmas) *Need You Now (Puck) (The Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle) *Take Me or Leave Me (Mercedes) (Comeback) Solos (In A Group Number) Season One *Don't Stop Believin' (Pilot) * *Push It (Showmance) *Somebody to Love (The Rhodes Not Taken) *Halo/Walking on Sunshine (Vitamin D) *Keep Holding On (Throwdown) *Imagine (Hairography) *Jump (Mattress) *Smile (Charlie Chaplin) (Mattress) *You Can't Always Get What You Want (Sectionals) *My Life Would Suck Without You (Sectionals) *Hello Goodbye (Hell-O) *Express Yourself (The Power of Madonna) *Like a Virgin (The Power Of Madonna) *Like A Prayer (The Power of Madonna) *Run Joey Run (Bad Reputation) *Total Eclipse of the Heart (Bad Reputation) *One (Laryngitis) *Bad Romance (Theatricality) *Any Way You Want It/Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' (Journey) *Don't Stop Believin' (Regionals Version) (Journey) *To Sir, With Love (Journey) Season Two *Empire State of Mind (Audition) *Toxic (Britney/Brittany) *One of Us (Grilled Cheesus) *There's a Light (Over At the Frankenstein Place) (The Rocky Horror Glee Show) *Start Me Up/Livin' On a Prayer (Never Been Kissed) *Marry You (Furt) *Last Christmas - (A Very Glee Christmas) *Deck the Rooftop (Not Used In A Very Glee Christmas) *God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (Not Used In A Very Glee Christmas) *Thriller/Heads Will Roll (The Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle) Rachel Berry Trivia *Often wears sweaters with animals on them. *For group numbers, her dance partner is usually Finn *Her fashion style, which is often mocked by Kurt, Brittany, Santana and Quinn mostly includes leg warmers, knee socks, and short skirts. *Claims that she has perfect pitch. *Rachel once had a crush on Will Schuester, like Suzy Pepper. Rachel and Suzy both have surnames named after plants (Berry and Pepper). *She has no gag-reflex. *She is a vegan. *Rachel was named after Rachel Green from the TV show'' Friends ''(mentioned in "Theatricality") *It is possible that her middle name, Barbra, is named after Barbra Streisand because Rachel seems to adore her. *She loves gold stars, as does her biological mother, Shelby Corcoran. *"Defying Gravity", which she sang in "Wheels", is her go-to-shower song as well as her ringtone. *Tries to be in as many clubs as possible to get pictures taken of her as practice for the paparazzi. As revealed in "Mattress", she was in the Speech Club, Mock United Nations Club, Renaissance Club, Muslim Students Club and Black Students Union in her freshman year. *She often wears argyle sweaters. *She can cry on demand. *She, Mercedes, Kurt, and Will have all called her the best singer in Glee. *Gold stars are her marking. *Whenever she is sad, she gets thirsty. *She had, by far, gotten the most solo's in the Glee Club. *She often wears gold necklaces, including a gold star, a gold "R" and a gold "Finn" charm *Her clothing has changed slightly from season 1 to season 2, being in the beginning wearing skort skirts, leg warmers, and sweaters almost every episode, and has now become more of a variety with dresses, tights, and turtle necks. *She never wore her hair up in season 1. *She has only worn shorts three times in the entire show, in "Vitamin D", "Hairography" and "Funk". Only in "Vitamin D" was it her actual clothing and not a costume for a performance. *Her favorite color is pink, as revealed in "The Rhodes Not Taken" *She only takes photos from her left side *The only person she has ever proclaimed her love to on the show is Finn. *She had been practicing "Don't Rain on My Parade" since she was 4 years old *Wears white cotton panties (as evidenced in "Throwdown"). *Grape is her favorite slushy flavor, as revealed in "Mash-Up". *She has auditioned several times for community theatre but has never actually gotten a part, as revealed in "Sectionals" (not including her rigged audition for Cabaret in season 1). *She has worn pants twice as her actual wardrobe (not a costume for a musical number), in "Wheels" (blue pant suit) and "Funk" (jeans). Quotations Rachel's Quotations Category:New Directions Members Category:Jewish Characters Category:Lea Michele Category:William McKinley High School Students